I'm curious: How many others out there are basically "EU" or "Story" collectors? That is, people who collect either particular story or EU lines because of their content or perhaps even try to collect all Star Wars EU content?

I collected the toys when I was a kid, but since getting back more heavily into Star Wars once 1992 rolled around and I discovered the in-progress Thrawn Trilogy and original Dark Empire mini-series, I have been an EU collector, eventually turning my sights on being an EU collecting completist in terms of novels and comics, though not in RPG materials or games, given that I'm not an RPG gamer and tend not to keep games for systems I no longer use.

At present, I'm doing pretty well, but now I'm finding myself obsessing over someday getting my hands on some items that are rather tough to find, even though they are more like odd versions of things I already have, rather than something that is a glaring hole in the collection.

I have photographed pretty much the entire collection for the Facebook page we have set up for The EU Review:

I'm up there with you Nathan, I have to follow the story. I do collect other figures, but my favorites tend to be the EU ones, the harder to find ones and the comic packs. The Die Cast I have because I like having the physical ship to check out, but when it comes to the story, I have to get it all in Paperback, even though I get all the hard covers as they come out, the check off part of me has to buy the paperback as soon as it comes out.

I'm this way with my comics too. I started out getting the trades and omnibus's but then started to catch up and now get it all in singles._________________-Bring on your thousands, one at a time or all in a rush. I don't give a damn. None shall pass.
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Posted: Sun May 08, 2011 11:23 am

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Taral-DLOSMaster

Joined: 23 Nov 2010Posts: 1943Location: Ontario, Canada

The goal of my book/comic collection was always to get one copy of each story. I haven't tried to find specific editions or anything, just trying to get the stories.

That goal shifted somewhat in 2009, when I started buying omnibuses that were completely redundant with my collection (i.e. already had all stories as either issues or TPBs).

It shifted again this year, when I started buying hardcovers of everything. I even make the point of buying hardcovers of books I already own in paperback if I see them on the shelf at Value Village (aka Savers). My wife is a manager there and I get discounts. w00t! I found hardcovers of Attack of the Clones and Vector Prime there. I'm praying someone will donate a copy of Traitor, not knowing what he's sitting on._________________"I'm...from Earth."

Traitor wasn't originally released in hardback. So, you're basically going for hardbacks, even if they are just the Book Club Editions of books that aren't "really" in hardback format?

I actually started out with just wanting a copy of each item, no matter the format, but I found myself in a unique position in that I had been collecting EU since 1992, so I already had almost everything in its first release format (often first edition) by default. That made it a somewhat easier task to hunt down those that were not in first format in my collection (the early pre-Bantam Del Rey novels, the Droids and Ewoks comics, etc.).

I pretty much wrapped up the holes in the collection by picking up the last of the Ewoks (Star Comics) series and the 2002 Toys R Us exclusive comics over the last year or so.

Now, it's looking for the oddball items that I don't consider part of that "whole" collection. For instance, I have all of the Goodwin/Williamson strips as digital comic strips (from StarWars.com) and as the original issues (not the trade paperbacks anymore) of Classic Star Wars from Dark Horse. However, I'd REALLY like to get my hands on that three-volume, signed and numbered, slipcased trade set put out by Cochran years ago that had all of the Goodwin/Williamson newspaper strips in their original format. I've run across it on Ebay a few times, but it always goes above my budget, and the only one consistently on Ebay is one by some twit that has it up for a *starting* bid of basically $2,500, which is ridiculous in the extreme.

I have also started to add signed stuff to the collection, but I care much less about stuff signed by the film teams than I do the EU creative talents._________________--Nathan P. Butler
http://www.starwarsfanworks.com

I have all of the Goodwin/Williamson strips as digital comic strips (from StarWars.com)

Is that something that might find it's way onto Facebook?_________________-Bring on your thousands, one at a time or all in a rush. I don't give a damn. None shall pass.
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-To become a Jedi, it is not the Force one must learn to control but oneself.
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Posted: Sun May 08, 2011 1:58 pm

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Lord Ree'diusMaster

Joined: 11 Apr 2011Posts: 700Location: The Unknown Regions

I basically try to get the paperbacks of all the adult reader novels with the emphasis on all the post-ROTJ novels. These I collect with priority over PT era novels for example.
I'm willing to wait for the paperback format for each story (because of price AND preference) and there are also some novels that I am in no hurry to buy because I'm just not that interested in them. I will buy them if I can get them in a sweet deal though and probably will eventually. I only collect the novels for their stories so I don't care which edition of a book I get as long as I get them.

I'm not actively buying any young reader/junior novels, but might consider buying them only if I would get them in a sweet deal. So I might still get a few of these but this collection will probably never be completed.

I only buy (visual) guides and reference books I like. That's only the ones that deal with in-universe stuff and never the making off-books. Seeing too much of how the movies where made takes a bit of the magic away IMO.
I'm a sucker for books like The Essential Atlas, Jedi vs. Sith or The Jedi Path which have the feel of reading in-universe documents alongside giving lots of in-universe information.

The collecting of the comics is secondary to the novels for me. (although I read/own most digitally already )
However I'm trying to collect all the Dark Horse comics in TPB or omnibus format, but never cared for the Marvels (didn't then, still don't now) so I'm completely ignoring those.
I also tend not to buy the TPB's of stories that are bound to end up in a omnibus real soon and rather wait for the omnibus for those.

That about sums up my EU-addiction I think. _________________"Strong you are with the dark side, young one. But not that strong.
Still much to learn, you have. Surrender, you should."

"You're going to find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view."

I have all of the Goodwin/Williamson strips as digital comic strips (from StarWars.com)

Is that something that might find it's way onto Facebook?

I'm not sure what you mean. You mean a gallery of the whole thing? That's bad copyright juju.

If you mean discussing it as a video . . . I highly doubt it, but maybe if I ever get the Cochran set, I can do a feature on the various forms the series took or something. I dunno. That would involve more than just a standard webcam video, since I'd be working in image stills and such.

Lord Ree'dius wrote:

I only buy (visual) guides and reference books I like. That's only the ones that deal with in-universe stuff and never the making off-books . . . I'm a sucker for books like The Essential Atlas, Jedi vs. Sith or The Jedi Path which have the feel of reading in-universe documents alongside giving lots of in-universe information.

I'm the same way with guidebooks. I'll pick up the encyclopedias, Essential Guides, and the like, but I have totally ignored things like Incredible Cross Sections, the Visual Guides, etc. I consider those a step between regular EU story collecting and RPG collecting.

Granted, I do have a few RPG books, but those are mostly for EU tie-in purposes (Legacy Era, KOTOR Era, TFU, etc.)._________________--Nathan P. Butler
http://www.starwarsfanworks.com

Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 11:00 am

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Alan Skywalker VMaster

Joined: 10 Apr 2011Posts: 632

Good to see you again, Nathan!

I tend to go for only one copy of each story. My budget is always low(though I hope it might pick up if I can get some book sales). With the comics, I'll be buying the omnibuses. I know that'll cause a pain with trying to organize in chronology order, but I just have to let that slide.

Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 4:20 pm

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Nathan ButlerVIP

Joined: 28 Jan 2008Posts: 51Location: Fairburn (ATL), GA, USA

Oh yeah, I don't try to get multiple copies if I can help it. The only time I end up doing that on purpose is if I find a rarity or a signed copy of something I already own.

I still have a few TPB's that I am planning to sell off when I get time, since they are duplicates of things I now have as singles, comic-wise._________________--Nathan P. Butler
http://www.starwarsfanworks.com

Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 4:51 pm

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Lord Ree'diusMaster

Joined: 11 Apr 2011Posts: 700Location: The Unknown Regions

Nathan Butler wrote:

I still have a few TPB's that I am planning to sell off when I get time, since they are duplicates of things I now have as singles, comic-wise.

I have the tendency to do it the other way around and would rather have the TPB's and omnibuses than singles.
This also goes for books. I've even done away with my loose PT novels to get them bound together in The Prequel Trilogy paperback.
This also creates a little more badly needed bookshelf space _________________"Strong you are with the dark side, young one. But not that strong.
Still much to learn, you have. Surrender, you should."

"You're going to find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view."

Traitor wasn't originally released in hardback. So, you're basically going for hardbacks, even if they are just the Book Club Editions of books that aren't "really" in hardback format?

My point was that I own all the novels in paperback form now (except for hardcovers released since 2009 or so, when I started buying initial releases, regardless of format). But if I see a hardcover book for dirt cheap at a secondhand store, I will buy it, regardless of if I have it in paperback already.

I know Traitor was only out in paperback, but I also heard that the SF Book Club hardcover edition can be quite valuable._________________"I'm...from Earth."

And we now have the ebooks to add to our collecting. I for one will collect then at some point. I want to get my whole Paperback collection doubled in the ebook format- simply to have it all on hand. But seeing how I personally don't own a kindle (the wife does) until I get my own smart phone nook or kindle I have no rush to get them. Though I have decided that any Hardcover I can get on kindle I WILL. I'm ready to stop buying the hardcovers just to not have to wait a year and pray not be spoiled. I did it with Vortex and was very happy! Granted I had to read it at the PC unless the wife let me borrow her kindle but hey- it beat shelling out $27 for a book I will be buying again in paperback, and I only spent 6.99 on it! So that felt like a win.

But the other side of it is now that all these other books are available I have a stronger desire to get every hardcover on the kindle- since I plan on getting it anyway at some point. So now buying a hardcover seems even stupider for me to do. (Prays all new releases are offered on Kindle as well!!!!!)_________________-Bring on your thousands, one at a time or all in a rush. I don't give a damn. None shall pass.
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-To become a Jedi, it is not the Force one must learn to control but oneself.
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-Podcasts: Star Wars Beyond the Films, The Star Wars Report, & EUCast

Posted: Wed May 11, 2011 6:09 am

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Alan Skywalker VMaster

Joined: 10 Apr 2011Posts: 632

Did you put the Free Kindle Reading App on your computer, Rogue? How does it work?

Did you put the Free Kindle Reading App on your computer, Rogue? How does it work?

Yeah it's "Kindle for PC" and IIRC it works through my wife's kindle account. She set it up and I can then have which ever books I want to read put onto it. But since I don't have a smart phone or anything I can transfer them to besides the pc I'm stuck with that for now. But if it saves me $20 I'll read the new books at my desktop lol_________________-Bring on your thousands, one at a time or all in a rush. I don't give a damn. None shall pass.
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-To become a Jedi, it is not the Force one must learn to control but oneself.
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-Podcasts: Star Wars Beyond the Films, The Star Wars Report, & EUCast